No Rose Without Thorns
by TheAllAround
Summary: An alien ship crashes in Anaheim and the only survivor is a female duck. But there is more to her than meets the eye, and a new threat is coming closer to Earth. Can the Mighty Ducks solve the mysteries about her? Or will they be destroyed?
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: I do not own the Mighty Ducks or their universe. I only own Jewel Fluke. Though, this fanfic is not suited for people against violence, blood and terms of sex. Reading this will be at own risk and I do not take the responsibility for any trauma people might suffer from it. You have been warned!**

No Rose Without Thorns

Prolog:  
Damn!  
How could she have been so reckless? No doubt they wouldn't let go of her now. If only she could disappear, but she needed time.

Jewel Fluke, a shape shifting Beluga whale, ran through the crowded streets. Other aliens and whales yelled at her as she bumped into them and knocked them over on purpose. She had to create as many blocks on the path behind her as possible.  
She looked quickly over her shoulder.  
Impossible! They were still after her!  
She shifted…  
White petals swirled around her, turning her skin into fur, changing color, her shape and species. Her long white hair disappeared into the fur on her neck, but the long black tuff continued to hang from her forehead. A tail shot its way out through her pants, her legs turned long, built to run. Outer ears grew on her head as she began to run like the cheetah she was gaining shape as.

She heard yelling behind her when her pursuers realized her actions. The change came to a stop, completed and her eyes turned a brownish amber. She ran.  
Faster than her pursuers could follow, faster than she thought she could. She just ran, forgot about people around her, they weren't there, it was only speed. She turned sharply around a corner, too sharply. She scratched her arm, drawing blood, but continued. Over the wall, into the next ally, through an open window, to the door and out on the street again. She left a small sample of blood everywhere she went, giving her an idea. She grabbed a clean shirt from one of the stales and ran into an ally. The place was covered with stones, which would tell her pursuers exactly where to go. The ally was a dead end.

Quickly she wrapped the shirt around her arm, and turned into another cat. Climbing up the walls, she landed on the rooftop, leaving absolute no trace of where she had gone. If only she could have flown away. That would have been easier, but birds now days had lost their ability to fly, so that wouldn't do her much good. At least now she had a few minutes head start, and she better make them count.

Night came crawling in over the city, leaving everything pitch black. The moons wouldn't be back for another two days' time, so Jewel could really make use of her abilities and shift into something soundless and black. No problem.

She sneaked around the harbor, knowing they might come look for her here, but she had to see if there was a chance to get out of town through the harbor. She took the chance and went further up, on the rooftops, watching everything from the heights. She crawled to the edge, looking down.  
Damn it!  
She quickly took her head back, fearing they might have spotted her with their lights. She listened for a few good minutes, before she dared to look again. She cursed to herself.

They were even here, and they were many. Every little spot of the harbor had been covered by police, agents and others. They really wanted to catch her.  
Jewel crawled back the way she came, nearly bumping into a guard, but managed to stay in hiding and crawled as a cat away from the harbor. She found an old building not far from the seaside, ready for destruction, and went in through an uncovered window.  
Walking through the unstable building, she muttered to herself, thinking.  
"Damn it! What do I do? I can't take a ship, stealing something would be useless and I nearly got the entire planet on my tail."  
She looked out the window only to see soldiers, heavily armed, walking pass the building. She hid in the shadows, waiting for them to be gone. She peeked out, but saw them standing still there.  
"Now I can't even leave this Goddamn building anymore!"

She had to come up with a plan, and fast! There was no telling when they decided to demolish this building, and when that happened she didn't want to be inside. If only she had some sort of transportation… She looked around as to find a sign or something. An old paper in the corner got her eye. She took it up and unfolded it. At the front page was a huge picture of a transportation aircraft, spaceship, for trades with the nearby planets. The paper was around four weeks old, but if she was right, the craft was still here, almost ready to leave. She smiled…

Now the only problem was to get out and to the craft. She found a new window to look out of, taking every view in aspect. There were several things she could do, but she wouldn't get far if she didn't take some of the soldiers down, permanently. And luckily, that was one of the few things she was good at.  
She shifted…  
A black panther would do best right now.

She went out the backdoor, coming up to the corner of the building to the street and smiled. They hadn't suspected anything. Now, if only… She picked up a small stone and threw it to the other side of the street, hitting the cans over there, making noise. This would probably be the oldest trick in the book, but it worked every time. She smiled further as the guards walked in the direction of the sound. They studied every little spot of the place.  
Now…

Two soldiers remained and before they could even make a sound or warn the others, she had killed them, swift, clean and effective. Now for the others…  
In a fast move, she crossed the street, coming up behind the first, killing him. Unfortunately, he was more of a screamer and got the attention of his companion. Gun shots were fired, and Jewel felt her victim be pumped full. A single bullet got to her arm as she reached for the gun in the dead soldiers' belt, but she had no intention of giving up. Quickly she got the gun, fired twice and saw the soldier fall backwards with two holes in his chest.

She cursed herself for being so reckless, again, and took a look at the wound in her arm. Not too bad, but she had to cover it up, or she would leave a trail for them to follow. She found a bandage on one of the soldiers, wrapped it around, tightened and went up through the fire stairs. Here she ran, all she could, and didn't bother to look for enemies. She knew they were around now, she knew they would do anything to stop her and she knew she could do anything to prevent them from stopping her.

The transportation craft was placed only a few miles outside the city. She would need a car or something to reach it, but stealing something would be a giveaway. She had already revealed herself by killing those soldiers and if a certain person was among the forces now, she would no doubt have someone coming after her soon. He was smart, but she had to be smarter, if she wanted to survive.

A nice motorcycle stood below her. Fast, small, didn't offer much protection, but it was just what she needed. The faster she could get there, the better.  
She slid down a pipe, hiding in the shadows, then jumped the bike and found her tools. She knew what to use, when and how. In no time she had the bike running, driving like a mad through the last mile of city before she reached the open lands and would be on her way to the craft.  
Now to another problem: getting in without getting detected. The last thing she needed was for the soldiers and police to notice where she was and what she wanted to do. Of course, riding a motorcycle down the road, no protection or anything, while everyone else was inside, watching the last few minutes before the transportation craft was send away, didn't make her situation any better.

She hadn't even made it outside the city line, before she heard a car coming up behind her. Great… The friends wanted to play so soon. She kicked it harder and did her best to lose them, but the road before her was nothing but a straight line to the ascending platform. Jewel ducked when they began to shoot at her.  
"Yo! I'm driving here!" she yelled back at them and found the gun she had from the soldier. Slowly she turned back and pointed the gun directly at the car.  
"This is your stop." She said to herself and shot twice, one in each front tire, then sat back. The car began to swing out of control, turned sharply to the left where the tire gave in and the car rolled to the side over a few meters.

Jewel looked over her shoulder, satisfied, but she growled as two other cars and three motorcycles came up. She kicked the bike again.  
The bikers came up at her sides, but off road. The bike she had chosen was too heavy to do the stunts they did, but it wasn't just as easy to bring out hers out of control as theirs. She brought the gun forth again and shot at the first and closest. She hit something, but she wasn't sure what. Suddenly, black smoke emerged from the engine and she shot again, making the bike explode under the driver.

Satisfied she took a shot at the other, but got suddenly hit from behind. She was pushed forward, and as she looked over her shoulder a car ramped into her. It went back and came up for ramping her again, when she turned to the right and out of the way. She disappeared for the driver and as she came back, she was at his left side. He barely managed to see her, when she shot him twice in the head, then kicked the bike and got out of the way, before the car turned to the right, off road and rolled around. The two other bikes had now come closer and one of them jumped in over her, close to get her head with his back tire. Jewel still had the gun in her hand, and shot right at his tire, so when he hit the ground he was tossed off. If he survived or not, she couldn't tell and she weren't gonna turn back and ask.

A car's light came up on her. As she looked back he turned up the high lights and blinded her completely. Jewel whimpered, took her gun and began shooting backwards without looking. She heard she hit the car, but what about the driver? As she slowly looked over her shoulder, she saw the car back away.  
She suddenly looked to the side and managed to see the third and last biker come towards her. Using his own bike, he ramped directly into her, slamming the two machines together around her leg.  
Jewel felt something snap and screamed.  
He ramped several times into her, crushing her leg every time. His attempt to bring her out of direction and control was useless, since her bike was so much heavier than his own.

Jewel didn't get time to think, but somehow she reacted and as he came in for another bump, she blocked her brakes slightly, but enough to lower her speed and get the driver on her other side. She accelerated and turned closer to him, pointing the gun at his head and took the shot. She saw the bike turn around, fall to the ground, swing a few times up in the air, before it rolled over the ground and finally a small explosion erupted. The driver was dead, she was sure about that.

Up ahead was the platform.  
Jewel decided she couldn't use stealth anymore. The guards had probably already heard her coming, or the gunshots, so she might as well use the front door, hit it hard and make it last.  
She drove right through the gate, had several of soldiers shooting at her, but managed to get in hiding behind some boxes and loose her pursuers. She drove around finding nearly every spot covered by armed soldiers and guards. It would be a pain to get off the bike without anyone noticing, and she couldn't get close enough on the craft.

She turned around a corner and hit the brakes. Dead end! She killed the bike, and suddenly a large rumble crossed her ears, making them hurt. She looked up, only to see the craft disappear slowly in the air. She had been too late. She growled…  
A gunshot whirled around her ears, and she snapped her head in the direction. Five armed soldiers stood, aiming at her, but they didn't take the shot. Maybe they had been ordered to take her alive? Nah! She couldn't believe that. Slowly she sat up, but as she moved a sixth soldier came with heavy firepower, enough to blast the bike to bits in seconds. She moved quickly now, shifted and jumped as a missile was send in her direction. The explosion was powerful enough to send her out of balance and she landed hard on the rooftop above the destroyed bike. She whimpered silently and crawled away. She had to make them believe she was dead, and if even they didn't she had to get away without them being able to follow her.

She came to the end of the building and looked over the edge. Soldiers… perfect! She crawled back and leaned against a ventilation shaft. Things weren't turning out like she wanted them to, but at least she was still alive. But now what? She had missed her flight; she was more or less trapped, wounded and unable to fight them all. Should this really be the place where she would go down?  
No! Not a chance! She still had a few tricks in her back hand, and she would fight till the last drop! She crawled to the other side of the building, hiding the best she could, while keeping watch for anything that looked like an enemy. She reached the end where boxes and more boxes had been placed. She could hide here for a while, so she turned over the edge and jumped, but as she landed, her leg collapsed under her. The ride had been too hard on her, and in this condition she would be easy to catch.

Jewel looked around. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, or….?  
A smaller ship, space craft no doubt, had docked nearby. A smaller trade ship! She limped over to a few boxes and listened. Men was talking… about her? No…  
"It's loaded, Jack. But tell me again, where are you going?" one of them said.  
"Puckworld." was the answer.  
"Puckworld? Ain't that a place of war?"  
"I've seen a lot to Puckworld lately, and I know about the rumors about a Saurian Overlord who should have taken over the planet, but I haven't seen anything but ducks!"  
Jewel thought for a while.  
"Puckworld? Ducks? Maybe not such a bad idea after all… I'm not wanted in Puckworld, and they've never seen me as a duck before. Might just be my ticket…" she smiled to herself and looked back at the men. They were still talking.  
Perfect…

She shifted. Her skin turned into feathers, her snout became a beak and her eyes turned green. Her hair a little darker than her white feathers, but she kept the black tuff. She looked around, listened to them, and then came closer.  
"I'm telling you: There's no danger on Puckworld!"  
"Excuse me?"  
Both men looked in the direction of the voice and saw a beautiful young duck coming their way. She was hurt, no doubt about that.  
"I couldn't help but to hear you. You said you were going to Puckworld?" Jewel asked with the sweetest voice she could measure.  
"Why yes, miss. I am." Jack answered and bowed slightly for her.  
"I know this may seem silly, but could I get you to take me with you? You see, I got lost during a trip here and haven't been able to find my way home, since there aren't many ships to Puckworld. I was hoping they would send their large ship in the neighbourhood, but they refused even to listen to me." She said. She played well. She could see the tears break in his eyes and his compassion and urge to help a fellow being rise.  
"Those coldhearted thieves…" the first man muttered to himself.  
"Of course, I'll take you with me." Jack said and offered a hand to her.

They walked inside the ship, where he planted her among the cargo. It was the best he could offer her, but as long as she was able to stay hidden from the authority, she didn't mind. Jewel quickly made herself comfortable, and when Jack disappeared to fire up the engines, she lay back and waited for them to land again.  
It couldn't be easier now…


	2. Chapter 2

**Warning: I do not own the Mighty Ducks or their universe. I only own Jewel Fluke. Though, this fanfic is not suited for people against violence, blood and terms of sex. Reading this will be at own risk and I do not take the responsibility for any trauma people might suffer from it. You have been warned!**

No Rose Without Thorns  
Chapter 1:

Anaheim.  
Beautiful Anaheim.  
No matter how strange Earth was and everything, the hockey playing team of ducks was sure about one thing: Earth was a beautiful place and very much like Puckworld.

Night had fallen over the town. The pond was empty, people were sleeping, everything was quiet.  
In a room under the pond facility laid a young drake, almost restless, in his bed. He twisted and turned, muttered and whimpered, even quacked, but little did it help. There was something in the air. He simply couldn't sleep!

Nosedive sat straight up, tossing his legs over the edge and walked over to the couch, turned on the TV, only to find a late night, boring movie he had seen fifty times in a month. Everything was so different now Dragaunus wasn't here to disturb the peace. Of course they couldn't be sure if he was really gone for good, but they hadn't heard word one from the scaly Overlord in quite some time now.  
The team wasted their time on hockey, helping the police and trying to fit in. Mallory had even gotten her eye on a human, who had found her rather attractive too.  
Grin meditated more, Tanya locked herself up with projects of all kinds and Duke and Wildwing did what they could to help Kleeghorn in a various numbers of cases. Things were splitting apart. They needed something to hold them together again…

Nosedive turned the TV off, after zapping through the channels more than twice. He went back to bed, but still couldn't sleep. Bored he sat on the edge and sighed.  
"Oh man… what I wouldn't give for a good old adventure right now."  
Someone knocked on his door.  
Surprised, he walked over and opened, only to see Duke standing there.  
"Yo! What's up, man?" the young drake asked, clearly happy to see the elder duck, and offered him inside.  
"Couldn't sleep. I got a weird feeling something ain't right…" Duke answered and stood in the middle of the room. Nosedive nearly couldn't believe his ears.  
"You too?"  
"You've been feeling it too?" Now Duke was surprised, as the young drake nodded.  
"Yeah. Makes my feathers stand…"

Duke thought about this.  
"This ain't natural… I've talked to Wildwing, and he feels the same way. There's definitely something in the air tonight…" he explained "But the others ain't affected. Grin and Tanya are sleeping solid, and Mallory is awake, but haven't felt anything."  
"You think we're getting crazy?" Nosedive asked, getting dressed.  
"I don't know, baby bro. But we gotta check it out."  
The sound of Wildwings voice turned their heads in the direction of the door. He was fully dressed in his armor with the mask of Drake Ducain in his hand.  
"Whoho! Late night action!" Nosedive cheered, slipping in his own armor and fell on his tail feathers. Duke and Wildwing shook their heads.  
"You really think there's something out there?" Duke asked the team captain.  
"I don't know, but there has to be. Half of the team is feeling something tonight and I wonna know what and why."

In a matter of minutes the three drakes were on Duck-cycles and driving through the city. They searched half of down town Anaheim, before Wildwing called it for the night.  
"We're never gonna find anything out here. Maybe we're just getting crazy…" Wildwing sighed and turned his cycle around.  
"Come on, bro! There's got to be something." Nosedive proclaimed and tried to stop his elder brother. "I mean, we all felt it, right? It can't be a coincidence… right?"  
Wildwing sighed and laid a hand on Nosedives shoulder.  
"Let it go, baby bro. There's nothing to find…"  
"I wouldn't be so sure about that…"

Dukes comment made them both turn towards him and looked up at where he was pointing. Something was coming towards them, and it looked like a burning meteor.  
"Is that… a meteor?" Wildwing wanted to know, but before anyone could answer they all had to throw themselves on the ground in order to avoid the object. It crashed down the main street, leaving a trail of destruction behind as it came to a stop.  
"Either that, or we got company." Nosedive answered to his brother's question.  
"Come on! Let's check it out!"  
Duke was already running towards the crash site, eager to see what had hit Anaheim this time, and thrilled to know something new was happening.

Wildwing and Nosedive followed, catching up with Duke, who slowly came to a stop when he saw what had hit the streets of their town.  
Nosedive whistled in amassment. "That is one big meteor…" he said and looked at the black thing lying on the road.  
"That's not a meteor. It's a spaceship!" Wildwing proclaimed and walked closer, laying a hand on the surface. He must have triggered some sort of mechanism, as a door opened and stairs came out, offering them welcome inside.  
"Well, we ain't gonna find anything out here." Duke said and started to walk up the stairs. Wildwing followed without complains and disappeared Nosedive had trouble walking in, but he finally convinced himself.

They all got amazed by the style of the spaceship. It was completely different from what they had seen and knew about. This had to be new alien life forms, but were they friend or foe?  
Duke took a turn to the left and found a way into the cockpit. The pilots were dead, but it didn't seem like they had been killed by the crash. Wildwing walked over to see if anything on the panel was working, anything that could tell them what had happened or what they had had in mind before the crash.  
Nothing…  
Not a thing worked. It almost seemed like it had all been erased, as if someone didn't want these guys to be found again.  
"You think they died from the crash?" Nosedive wanted to know, as Duke studied one of them, then shook his head.  
"No. They were dead before they landed here. See this wound? Someone stabbed them both from behind and separated their heads from their bodies on the inside, but it can't be seen on the outside. We got a skilled murderer here."

The words scared Nosedive a little. He had been in a life threatening situation before, but never had he dealt with a real blood thirsty killer.  
"He could still be here… He could be watching us…"Duke said and scared the young drake even more. It wasn't his attention, but he just had to tell them the truth.  
"Dive! Go back to the pond and wake the others. Tell them what we found. Duke and I'll stay to see if there are any survivors." Wildwing ordered his brother, who complied without hesitation, leaving the two elder drakes alone in an alien spacecraft…


	3. Chapter 3

**Warning: I do not own the Mighty Ducks or their universe. I only own Jewel Fluke. Though, this fanfic is not suited for people against violence, blood and terms of sex. Reading this will be at own risk and I do not take the responsibility for any trauma people might suffer from it. You have been warned!**

No Rose Without Thorns  
Chapter 2:

Once alone in the alien ship, Duke and Wildwing walked around, searching, but found nothing but corpses and something they thought was a corpse, but looked more like pulp. They hurried on and got to the cargo bay. Even here people were lying around, killed in one way or another. There were gun shots on the walls and some equipment on fire or just destroyed. Wildwing started to get a bed feeling about this, and used his mask to scan for anything that might be alive, any signs of movement.  
Duke walked more relaxed, but his experience told him to be calm and not let his enemy think he was careful. It would make the attack less precise and reveal the attacker himself sooner than he thought.

The attack never came.  
Duke had been looking for any sign indicating there was someone else watching them, but he couldn't find the slightest clue about it.  
They suddenly heard someone groan and a cough. Both drakes turned to the sound and slowly went over behind the cargo. The sight was frightening.  
An alien, with half of his spine in full view, organs all over the place and blood flowing from him faster than he could move. He reached out for the ducks.  
"Kill it…" he mumbled with his mouth full of blood. "Kill it…" he said again, this time pointing in a direction. Duke walked over as the alien fell on the ground, lifeless. Wildwing put a hand on the alien, studying it. His legs had been torn off, probably due to the crash, or could it have been the murderer?

"Duke! Be careful!" Wildwing whispered as the elder drake got near the spot pointed out for them. He had drawn his saber ready to strike at anything. He looked around the corner and gasped.  
"Wildwing!" he called as he suddenly disappeared behind some boxes.  
The white drake was at his feet and rushed to his comrade, but he also had to gasp at the sight before him.  
Strapped to the wall, tied up and with heavy bruises hang she. A duck. White feathers, a tone darker hair and a big, long, black tuff from her forehead. She was out cold, and it was clear she had been hanging there for a while. Old blood stained the robes and she had hit the back of her head on the wall, knocking her out.  
"She's… she's…" Duke started but couldn't finish.  
"Come on. We gotta get her down." Wildwing didn't like the idea of leaving one of their own hanging like that. If she was dead, at least they could give her a prober funeral.

Duke cut the robes, while Wildwing caught her. He noticed something.  
"Duke… She's alive!"  
The gray drake turned towards him with a surprised look. They both starred at her, but Wildwing couldn't be mistaken. He felt pulse, heartbeat and a small breathe on his neck. Duke took the chance and tested it for himself. He got even more surprised than before.  
"Alive… How's that even possible? All the others are dead!" he proclaimed.  
"I don't know, but we have to get her back to the pond. Tanya will know what to do about her."

There was no arguing about that. Wildwing carried the female duck out of the ship and drove back to the pond, where Nosedive had awakened the others and told them the story. They had just decided what to do, when Duke and Wildwing came through the door.  
"Duke! Bro! Man! Am I glad to see you two!" Nosedive would have jumped straight in the arms of his brother, but stiffened as he saw the bloody female in his hold.  
"Who's that?" Tanya wanted to know, asking the question on everyone's beak.  
"The only survivor we could find on the ship. She's out cold, but alive." Duke told them and as they all walked to the medical room, Duke and Wildwing told of what they had seen in the ship.

Two hours of talking, taking care of the female and some more talking, went quickly. The experience had taken its hold on Wildwing, no doubt. Duke had seen murders before, but he was also shocked about it, though he didn't give it away. Nosedive was glad they had both come back in one piece, but he was fascinated about the female they had found, and couldn't be dragged away from her. He didn't touch her or anything. He just sat on a chair close to the bed with his arms and head on the mattress, looking at her. Grin had placed himself in a corner, meditating, to give strength to her, hoping to help her heal faster. Tanya walked back and forth from different computers, testing, studying, getting answers and even more questions. Mallory didn't seem like she was really interested, but deep in her mind, she couldn't help but feel pity for their fellow duck. Whoever she was, she had been through a rough ride, no doubt.

Wildwing sat on a chair, trying to read, but the images of the dead bodies wouldn't leave his thoughts. Duke walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.  
"You okay, Wing?"  
The young leader looked up at him.  
He sighed "I just can't let go of those images… I mean, we've never been this close to death before. With Dragaunus, he just vanished. We've been hurt and seen people disappear before our eyes, but never like this…"  
Duke sat close to him.  
"You're thinking about Canard, aren't you?" he said rather low, only high enough for Wildwing to hear. He sighed again and took the mask off.  
"If it wasn't for him, we'd all be dead now…"

Duke ran a hand through his hair and exhaled.  
"I know how you feel, Wing. I've been through the same thing, but… Time makes us stronger. It may not heal our wounds completely, but we grow stronger from them. You can let go, if you really want to…"  
Wildwing looked at his own reflection on the mask, clearly thinking about these words. A decision came to him, as he put the mask back on and looked at Duke with a soft look in his eyes.  
"Thanks Duke…"  
The elder drake grinned.  
"Hey, anytime buddy. Anytime…"

Tanya came over with a piece of paper in her hands.  
"Well, seems like she's gonna be okay. She got a concussion, a few wounds and a busted leg. It will take time to heal all, but there are no signs of decease or internal bleedings." She said with a smile on her beak.  
"But why won't she wake up?" Nosedive asked and looked at them all. Duke and Wildwing stood.  
"You don't remember, bro, but it took quite some time before you woke up from your concussion. She needs time, that's all."  
Wildwing patted him on the head and smiled in order to cheer him up. It worked slightly, but the young drake still turned and laid his head on his arms on the mattress.  
"I still wish she would wake up…" he said.

The others felt something in the air and began slowly to leave the room. Leaving Nosedive completely alone with the female wasn't a good idea, so Tanya stayed up and kept watch on both of them when Nosedive fell asleep only twenty minutes later. Everyone else went back to their rooms. Grin to meditate for the female, Mallory tried to figure out a few things, Duke tried to sleep, but couldn't and found himself unable to do anything else but practice his sword fighting.  
Wildwing also tried to sleep.

He lay restless, twisting and turning in his bed to finally jump up once in a while feeling something in his chest hurt. How could this have been so hard on him?  
He sat up and looked at his hands. They were shaking. The only times in his life that had happened was when Canard had told him to shot at him with a gun in order to learn how to hit a living target. Wildwing had never had real use at it and as long they had pucks to use, he would never touch another gun again.  
He lay back down, trying to relax. Thinking about Canard wasn't a good idea. He had to think of something else, something else… something…  
He drifted off to sleep, only a few hours before someone knocked on his door…


End file.
